


Unconventional Family

by FantasyFan5



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: AUNT ADIRA, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Brotherhood is a family, Brotherhood of the Dark Kingdom (Disney), Brotherhood shenanigans, Character Death, Emotional Support Animals, Flashbacks, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Gen, Mentioned Quirin, Non-Graphic Violence, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Family, Sassy Varian (Disney), Season 2 Rewrite, Team Awesome (Disney: Tangled), Uncle Hector, Varian is a smart boi, he was raised differently it was to be expected, its just quirin dont worry, mentioned Ulla - Freeform, mentions of injury, slightly ooc varian, the brotherhood raised varian, varian is badass
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 08:53:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29805936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FantasyFan5/pseuds/FantasyFan5
Summary: After the death of their brother, Adira and Hector are left with no choice but to put their disputes behind them to work together to raise their nephew.  As the years go on, he grows to become both a scientist and warrior under the protective eye of his family.  But when the existence of the Sundrop reveals itself, old fights reemerge and sides must be chosen.  Will the family be able to pull through and recover from the turn of events, or will they be broken forever?
Relationships: Adira & Hector & Varian (Disney: Tangled), Adira & Varian (Disney), Adira/Hector (Disney: Tangled), Hector & Varian (Disney: Tangled), Varian (Disney) & Everyone
Comments: 6
Kudos: 18





	1. Lost and Found Family

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: The first chapter will depict a character death and grief/ mourning. If you are uncomfortable reading something like this, you should know that this will be he only chapter with these themes aside from a casual mention of the event. The first chapter is also NOT needed to understand the story and if you would prefer, you can skip straight to chapter 2.

Adira hesitated as she stood outside the quaint, yet neglected home. 

A month ago she had received a letter from her brother, one that deeply distressed her and led her to his house in Old Corona. The letter had informed her that he was dying of a terrible sickness, that he hoped to see his brother and sister in arms, his family, one last time. She braced herself and walked through the door, prepared for the worst. 

She expected things to be in disarray, to be neglected or uncared for, she expected a sickening smell in the air, hacking and coughing, or complete silence. 

What she didn’t expect was the crying. The moment she walked through the door she was met with the long, loud wails of what sounded to be a child. 

As she continued forward she approached the master bedroom and found her brother awake and seemingly distressed as he looked towards a crib in the corner. 

At her entry he turned his head and smiled sadly at her, a smile she couldn’t help but return. 

“A-Adira…” He whispered. The sight made some of her carefully constructed walls start to crumble. The sight of her fearless and strong brother, the man she had seen look death in the eye and come out victorious against impossible odds, a man she had always looked up to, now without so much strength as to stand or comfort his child. 

Despite everything though she continued to smile, she was determined to be strong for the both of them. 

“Hello brother.” She whispered kindly. She wanted to ask him how he was, she wanted to beg him to stand and prove he would pull through, that he was ok, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t do anything but be there for him. 

She looked to the young child beside him, close enough to see and be near, but far enough away that he wouldn’t get sick as well. She heard his sickness wasn’t spreadable, but it's best to not take chances, especially with one so young. 

“Who’s this?” She asked approaching the crying baby, he looked to be only a few months, a year old at most. 

He smiled fondly at his child. “His name is Varian… H-he is my... son.” He finished with a long cough. Adira knelt down at his side and held his hand until it stopped. Once it did she looked to the young boy, Varian. It was a name to try to remember. 

He appeared to be quite the peculiar boy, with the start of raven hair and what appeared to be a strange blue streak. He was also quite small, it was a wonder how he was still alright, what with his father in this condition, unable to fully care for him. Speaking of…

“Do you need some help with him?” She asked, kneeling down to rock the cradle and seeing her brother smile and nod sadly. “Ok, I’ll be right back.” 

Guessing he would be hungry, she walked to the disturbingly disorganized kitchen and searched until she found something suitable for the baby. She returned to feed him and eventually rocked him to sleep while talking to Quirin about all sorts of things. 

She learned the boy was about 8 months old and very small for his age, especially with someone like Quirin for a father. 

As they talked, time seemed to slow down, brought back by old memories and wanting to treasure every moment left. Eventually the child stopped crying and fell asleep much to their relief. 

The mood was broken however when later that night they heard the bang of the downstairs door being thrown open, waking Varian up and sending Adira immediately on guard. She grabbed her blade and crept down the hall only to stop and sigh, sheathing her blade when she saw Hector standing there. 

They gave each other a hesitant look that said “I don’t want a fight” and began to walk upstairs together. Adira was silently thankful he didn’t appear hostile, she didn’t think she could handle a fight with him right now and he seemed to be thinking the same thing. It wasn’t everyday you found your brother on his deathbed. 

**...**

Hector didn’t know what to expect when he arrived at his brother’s home. What he most certainly didn’t expect was for Adira to be standing before him, sword in hand and hearing a dreadful crying ringing throughout the house. 

When he saw her blade he silently seethed, he was here for his brother, for once he wasn’t in the mood for a fight despite their disagreements. Luckily she seemed to be following a similar thought process as she quickly sheathed her blade and led him upstairs. 

Unable to think of anything to say in the uncomfortable quiet, Hector was thankful when his sister began. 

“Y’know, you don’t always need to be so dramatic or loud. I had just gotten your nephew to sleep when you woke him up again with your obnoxious banging.” She said, giving him an almost playful glare. “It’s your turn to put him to sleep now.” She finished. 

_ Nephew?  _ “What the hell are you on about?” He asked in his usual gruff voice. 

“Quirin’s son.” She finished simply and sadly. As she led him forward he saw what she meant. Inside a large, rounded room, he saw his brother sitting sickly in his bed, and beside him he saw a young child, a baby crying. 

He looked to his brother and sighed, “...You look like crap.” He bluntly stated, earning a swat from his sister and a chuckle from his brother. 

“He-llo... Hector.” He whispered. Hector then walked over to the crying child and carefully tried to put him to bed much to the amusement of Adira. 

“Never thought  _ you  _ could be gentle” She rudely stated. 

“Clearly you don’t remember what I’m like with my animals.” He retorted. 

She scoffed a bit. “You do realize a rhino and a baby are very different things.” Which he responded to by sticking his tongue out at her as she returned the childish gesture. 

Their antics were disrupted by their Quirin’s chuckling behind them. “It appears… n-nothing has...changed…” And they couldn’t help but smile. 

The next few days they stayed there together, never leaving their brother’s side in fear of losing him. But every day he only continued to get worse. 

Finally, on the 6th day after their arrival they knew it was time. They had done everything they could to make him comfortable, to help him and his child, whose fate was avoided in conversations. In only a few days, both had grown fond of the young one, but they also knew their goals would only hurt him, they weren’t parent material. He would be in danger if he went with one of them, but it didn’t feel right to leave him to grow up as an orphan. And so the topic was avoided. Until it couldn’t be any longer. 

That night, after Varian had been put to sleep by Adira they both sat down on either side of Quirin, each taking a hand as they recalled old fond memories though not mustering up the strength to laugh or do more than sadly smile. 

At the end of the night, they knew it was the end. 

“Hector… Adira… I-I’m glad I got to know you two… I *cough cough*... I missed you these past few years…” When they looked at each other, they could all tell the others had tears forming in their eyes. 

“I missed your… antics… and *cough* I missed going on missions with you… like old times. I… I’m sorry to ask this but please...please, I-I wish I could also get to know my-my son one day but I know I... can’t.” Hector felt his breath catch at his next words. 

“P-please, I don’t want him *cough cough* I don't want him to… to go through what some of us had to, I don’t want him to-to suffer or wonder what... happened. I *cough* I want him to get to know his-his family, so please. Please watch over him... take care of him in my… absence.” He finished in a whisper, sleep starting to overtake him. “I’ll be seeing Ulla… soon, but I wish I could stay...for h-him, s-so please. Please promise me you’ll take care of him.”

At this point the siblings couldn’t stop the tears that started to flow, they couldn’t deny him this they knew, but it hurt, it hurt to know they wouldn't see him again, it hurt to know he would never get to know his boy. 

“Of course” they both whispered. Tears glistened on their faces, past their carefully construed facades. 

He gave one last teary, weak smile “Thank you…” and closed his eyes. 

They didn’t open again. 

The next morning after having buried their brother, they agreed to put their dispute behind them, they didn’t have the energy to fight, they didn’t want to be alone, not then. 

They both looked at the young sleeping child and vowed, they would never let him be hurt, and they would never leave him behind. He was their family, it just hurt that it took this to bring them together again. 


	2. Meeting the Group (Future)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As far as first appearances go, Varian believes the situation could have been handled a little bit better, but who is he to deny his Aunt a good fight and him the chance to observe the Sundrop and her companions in action.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope to post whenever possible but will give no definite dates because I myself don't know how my schedule and workload will be. 
> 
> Below is a link to a reference photo I made for my Brotherhood Varian outfit:
> 
> https://www.instagram.com/p/CKtuJdGFdyg/?igshid=1pk2nezqmnfjz

It had been a long day to say the least. 

Upon their arrival at the ‘esteemed’ Vardaros only to find a run down city of thieves, the day only continued to become more awkward and miserable from there. 

Cassandra sat down next to Rapunzel as she tried in vain to explain her lack of answer to her boyfriend's semi-proposal when another voice interrupted, setting Cass on high alert. 

“Oh, I can tell you why.” The newcomer said as Cass and Rapunzel found the source of the voice standing against the side of the caravan. 

“You have bigger things lying ahead of you.” She said, taking a bite out an apple in her hand. _Who does this stranger think she is?!_

As they stepped in front of her, the Coronans took notice of the stranger's appearance. She wore the garb of a warrior, a grey dress with a red scarf around her middle and red accents across her attire. She had strange white hair done up in an unusual way and had half her face painted red. What took up the majority of her attention however was the large, menacing, black sword hanging from her back. All in all it set the soldier on guard, no random traveler wore such specific nor eccentric clothing, especially not around Corona. _What is she after…?_

Cassandra stayed on guard while Rapz calmly yet cautiously approached the stranger. “I’m sorry, who are you exactly?” She hesitantly said. 

“Oh, right, sorry. Princess Rapunzel, my name is Adira.” The newcomer ‘Adira’ responded. 

Before she could continue on though, another figure dropped nimbly from a high up branch and rose gracefully beside the warrior. “And my name is-” 

“Unimportant.” The woman finished before leading him away by the arm into the nearby thicket. 

_What in the world?_ If Cassandra hadn’t been on my guard before she certainly was now. 

  
  


**...**

  
  


_Why couldn’t that boy just listen for once!_ Adira thought as she led him away. 

She had specifically told him he could be there and help in small ways but she didn’t want him directly interacting with the group, this was her mission and she had already dragged him into her problems enough. Especially ever since he had been forced to choose between her and Hector. It was a relief to know he wouldn’t be her enemy when the time came to pass through the Great Tree but she knew it hurt him to have had to choose. She could only hope their little family wasn’t broken because of this, therefore the less he was involved, and the less he dug himself into one side, the better. 

After leading him out of earshot she quickly whispered “What do you think you're doing?! I specifically told you to wait for me, I don’t want you to get involved.” 

He patiently waited for her to finish before starting “I’ve been travelling plenty with you and Hector, you’ve trained me for as long as I can remember, I know I have the strength to help, I just want a chance to prove myself and be a part of the solution. Plus…” At this he gave her a mischievous smirk “if I just disappear out of the blue the others will now ask questions since I've already introduced myself and they'll know there’s someone else with you and won’t trust you not knowing where I am. Therefore I must finish introductions with them. Unless you want to risk their distrust.” 

_Why... Just why did he have to do this to me?_

She sighed, he obviously thought this out. “Fine, but there will be some rules. You have to listen to me and be respectful, don’t give too much away and don’t purposely put yourself in a situation you can’t handle.” He flashed a winning smile and happily made his way back to the girls who were watching, his raccoon taking its place on his shoulders as he walked. 

  
  


**...**

  
  


A moment later the two walked back, the woman wearing a displeased look on her face while the child beside her held a self satisfied smirk. 

If the woman had been surprising, this newcomer was even more so. He was ridiculously young, he couldn’t be more than 14! And just like the woman, he donned the attire of a fighter, yet something else as well. He carried a pair of well-worn goggles atop a mess of black hair that had two braids and a single blue stripe that matched his intelligent seeming eyes. He wore a grey/black leather tunic with blue stripes and highlights on the cuffs of his short sleeves as well as black pants with several patches on them and black boots and thick fighter gloves. Alongside the seeming necessities he also donned a maroon-purple cloak clasped together with a strange symbol, a circle with three lines across it as well as three grey-blue lines of face paint lines under his left eye. Finally, he held an array of strange weapons and objects across his person, on a belt around his waist he had multiple glowing vials and knives as well as a sword hanging from his hip. And strangely enough he had a raccoon draped across his shoulders. But aside from their attire and style, the two looked nothing alike, who were they?

Cassandra brought my guard up again the moment they came back, “Hello your highness. My name is Varian.” He said, bowing at the waist while the woman kept a critical eye on him. 

“And just who the hell do you think you are?!” She snapped. 

He gave another mischievous smile that was not helping his case in the slightest. “I believe I already answered that question.” 

She growled, “You know what I meant! What do you two want from us?!” 

The half and half warrior stepped forward with a careful smile. “A word with Rapunzel is all… Alone, if you don’t mind.” _Oh yeah, like hell I’m going to leave the princess alone with two shifty strangers in the middle of the woods next to a city of criminals._

“Yeah, I don’t think so.” She said, stopping the warrior in her tracks and placing a hand firmly against her shoulder. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the kid make his retreat into a nearby tree, hanging lowly to the ground, upside down, in a casual manner. _What the?_

Behind her she heard Rapunzel say “Just a second Cass, let's hear her out.”

Adira looked down at her hand in distaste. “Ok. I gotta admit, I know we just met, but I’m not a fan of people _touching_ me.” She growled. 

“And I’m not a fan of people who _lurk in the shadows_ ” She responded rudely. 

The warrior sighed, “ok, last chance to do this the _nice_ way.” She said in a threatening manner, grabbing the guard’s hand in a tight grip. She wasn’t going to get away with threatening her without a fight though, she looked back up with a smirk, “And where’s the fun in that?!”

“Cass, wait-” Rapunzel began.

But before she knew it, she was thrown roughly to the ground while the stranger stood calmly with a satisfied smile across her face. The boy was watching them all with an intrigued expression as if curious as to what would happen while at the same time knowing perfectly well what would happen, it was a bit annoying. Cassandra was already getting really tired of these people. 

It was then that Rapunzel joined the battle having donned a nearby frying pan to come to her friend's aid. 

  
  


**...**

Varian was very pleased his plan had worked, he had successfully joined the mission, despite his Aunt's hopes, but still with her permission. When the battle started he decided it would be best to step aside, he knew full well they wouldn’t stand a chance against him, let alone Adira and it wouldn’t do well to fight them, so he left that to his Aunt. Besides, the soldier, ‘Cass’ if he heard right seemed adamant about being a stubborn idiot who wouldn’t look past her own ego. She was gonna be a problem. 

So there he was, sitting upside down on a low lying branch watching the whole affair, observing their fighting styles as he had been taught. He could see the princess was determined, yet naive and untrained while the guard on the other hand appeared to be trained well and was headstrong, but refused to look at the bigger picture. He of all people could understand being cautious, especially around strangers, but at some point you need to get off your high horse and listen. 

He was honestly happy someone was knocking her ego down a notch, he was content to simply watch. 

As he watched the fight ensue, he became aware of another form running nearby towards them, though the others were too caught up to notice. What really grabbed his attention however was the clash of light from the fight. The hair that had been wrapped around Adira’s wrist when she won hadn’t been cut as it usually was. Instead, as her unbreakable sword arched down and met the long golden hair, they met a standstill. Both women appeared surprised by the event, each expected the other’s weapon to break, but the fact that it didn’t only furthered his theory and he jumped down with a smile. 

“Your hair! Y-your sword! Neither broke! It must be-”

“Princess! Cass!” Oh yeah, forgot about him. 

The princess turned to him immediately, from the sounds of it, there was a problem. 

“Hookfoot! Are you okay?!”

Varian turned to follow his Aunt as he noticed her start to walk away saying “I can see you have your hands full. I shall seek you out later.” 

He stumbled slightly as he hurried to question her. “What are you doing?! If you want them to trust us why don’t we help them, it's obvious something wrong has happened.” To which she responded with “They need to learn to take care of their own problems, they obviously don’t trust us yet, and if there happens to be a fight or something that can endanger the mission and prevent them from continuing, then we shall interfere.” 

At that Varian hesitantly agreed and followed her away. 

They arrived at the edge of the broken down community and settled at the top of a rickety roof keeping an eye out on the surroundings for potential threats and to see when it would be best to step in. While they watched, they decided to use their extra time to discuss and theorize based on what they saw of the group from watching from afar the past week and from the battle. 

“So what did you think of the sundrop from what you saw?” His Aunt started. 

He thought for a moment. “I definitely think she possesses the sundrop’s powers, and from the way it wouldn’t cut under your blade I assume it's already formed a connection with the moonstone, which is also reinforced by the fact that the rocks are forming a path.” He chuckled for a moment. “Hector is gonna be so mad.” 

“Of course he will, he now owes me 50 coins” She added with a smirk. 

Varian smiled back jokingly before continuing. “Aside from the sundrop, I think the princess herself is a bit naive, she doesn’t appear to know how to fight properly but I don’t doubt she could handle herself in a trying situation, especially with her hair, there are so many possibilities of what you could do with a very long extension of yourself being virtually unbreakable. She did seem a little petty and self absorbed though, even if she doesn’t realize it. Her bodyguard however is a different story. She obviously knows how to fight but there are some obvious things she should work on, such as her stance and emotional control, but I highly doubt she would accept help. She seemed content as she was, and from the way she reacted to you I wouldn’t doubt it if she believed herself unbeatable. Props to you by the way for knocking her down a notch,” He continued with a teasing smile “she looked like she needed it. She was pretty aggressive and antagonistic though. Luckily, she will probably do a fair job of keeping the others on track, but I won’t deny that she was definitely childish in her own rights. I didn’t see much of that man with the hook though he didn’t appear to be good for much. In all, I think they are a very strange bunch that together will probably be a recipe for trouble, but hopefully can also get themselves out of trouble as well. Of course I can’t really judge without seeing more of them.” 

His Aunt nodded “Good. What of the others?” she asked, turning her attention to the announcement down below. 

He thought for a moment. “The man with the earrings was a bit overly dramatic but not much of a problem to deal with and ‘Flynn Rider’ seems a bit egotistical like the guard but capable of handling himself. I mean not right now but, y’know what I mean.” 

She raised her eyebrow, “How do you know his name?” to which Varina blushed. 

“ I always liked to read “The Flynn Rider series” when I was little. He‘s the spitting image of the character and I saw one of his old wanted posters a few towns back.” She nodded with a smile at her nephew's antics as they continued to watch the ordeal below. 

After several hours of watching when the wedding procession started Varian settled down and sighed “I can already tell these people aren’t going to be easy. I mean nothing has to be this dramatic, right?!” He said, glaring at the lights below. 

“At the very least we may be able to finally prove ourselves to the princess and the others.” Adira said, climbing up behind him to watch. 

“What do you mean?”

“I was listening in on the others, they’re planning to sneak in and rescue the men at the altar, there will likely be a fight, that will be where we come in.” She said with a smirk that the teen returned. 

After a few more hours, the girl’s plan was set in motion but obviously didn’t turn out how they were expecting when the rocks didn’t work. Varian scoffed, these people obviously weren’t that bright. 

“Alright, that's our cue” His Aunt said, motioning for him to follow her down to the battle below. 

The fight was already in full force, but with the ‘surprise’ of the rocks not responding, their plan basically went down the drain, for a moment they appeared to have the upper hand, until they didn’t, but then they did again, that's when the two warriors joined. Noticing they weren’t in any serious danger, Adira handed a slice of cake to Varian and nabbed some for herself as they leaned back to watch the fight, wondering when would be best to join, Varian overheard the princess exclaiming her confusion and saw his chance. 

“I don’t have a plan B, I thought these rocks would react like they did back in Corona!” She yelled. 

“They’re not reacting because they found the Sundrop. That would be you.” He said with his mouth full of cake before setting it aside and pulling out his blade alongside his Aunt. 

“Great. Weird sword lady and her weird kid.” The rude guard muttered before Adira walked behind her and joined the battle. 

“We’re not that weird!” She exclaimed, running at the groom to be with a battle cry and scaring him half to death while Varian ran for the horse. 

“Wow! Thank you tall person!” He cheered after realizing she was on their side. That was good, at last one person seemed a little more trusting of them. 

Turning back to the horse he had just freed, Varian was satisfied at the neigh of approval he received before getting back to work. 

As the battle continued on around them they could tell the moment they had won, the man known as the baron appeared to have been poisoned or defeated, judging the effects he was receiving, Varina gathered it was likely from the bite of a Kai spider. His men were either unconscious or chased away. 

He finished his work and gave an extra kick for good measure as the man he had been fighting ran away. He turned around to find his Aunt eating a slice of cake off the blade she had just been using to fight with and made a face. 

“Really Adira? Do you have any idea how unsanitary that is?!” He said before grabbing a proper cake knife and plate, shuddering at her carelessness and snickers. 

As they made their escape, determined to meet up later, Varian overheard the man who had previously been dying utter something about his Aunt being a tall angelic enchantress with a sword and chuckled. He would be fun. 

They decided to spend the rest of the night enjoying the small hoard of cake they snuck off with as compensation for their helping. The next morning they made their way back to the group, or to be precise, the princess who was sitting apart from the others. 

  
  


**...**

  
  


“Where is it taking us pascal? She asked, still thinking over the rock’s lack of reaction. 

“To fulfill your destiny” A voice behind her spoke. She turned to find the form of the warrior from the night before and the kid standing there. 

“Adira, Varian... Who are you?” She asked in a slightly awed wonder, recalling her skill from the day before, she vaguely remembered seeing the teen at the battle, but didn’t see much of him. 

She handed two small scraps of paper to Rapunzel. “Look, I am a friend and we are here to make sure you get to the end of this journey you're embarking on. Listen, we don’t have all the answers, but now that we’ve seen all that we’ve seen, we have no doubt these rocks were looking for you and you must follow them. To the Dark Kingdom.” She finished with a sad glint in her eye. 

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Eugene smiling down at her. “We’ll get there, don’t worry”

She smiled back at him “I guess we’ll finally discover just where our destiny lies, and with you all by my side, I’m sure nothing can go wrong”. Eugene pulled her into a hug and led her back towards the caravan where the others were waiting.

When she walked inside she was greeted by Cass scoffing at the others outside. “What did those creeps want?” She asked. 

Rapunzel sighed, “They aren’t creeps, they did help us, remember? And Adira gave me some papers that seem to have some relation to the sundrop and this journey. I did find out where we’re going though, the Dark Kingdom.” 

She scowled again “Sounds like a nice place” she said sarcastically, Rapunzel ignored her to instead wave at the two semi-strangers outside which Adira responded to with a small smile while Varian repeated the gesture with a bashful smile and began to follow on foot into the surrounding forest. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! This is my very first fanfic so if anyone has any tips or criticism I will be happy to hear it!


End file.
